THE ACQUISITION OF SKILL IN ARCHERY. 



Ill 



r, CO JO 



Fig. 11. — Initial and final accuracy with the bow in 19 

 .subject.s computed from first and last 40 shots. The 

 ordinates are inches from the bulU-eye; the abscissie, 

 the different subjects arranged in the order of their 

 initial skill. The groups of which they are members 

 are given below. The straight lines show the aver- 

 age amount of improvement for any given initial 

 accuracy. 



Fig. 12. — Initial and final 

 accuracy of 9 subjects 

 with the rifje, arranged 

 as figure 11, except that 

 the ordinates represent 

 centimeters. 



A COMPARISON OF UNLIKE GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER THE 

 SAME CONDITIONS OF PRACTICE. 



The first experiment was conducted with 8 subjects, each shooting 12 arrows 

 daily under the same conditions. Four of the subjects (Group A) were inves- 

 tigators working in the laboratory, 4 (Group B) were skilled laborei's. The 

 men of the first group were all trained in habits of delicate manipulation, 

 such as those I'equired by microscopic technique, and to a much less extent 

 in acts of skill demanding coordination of widely dispersed groups of large 

 muscles. The second group included a good marine engineer, another of less 

 thorough training, a carpenter (acting as cook), and a first-class pilot who had 

 served apprenticeship as a common sailor. 



T.\BLB 34. 



The distinction between the groups was made primarily ujion professional 

 status, and it is not certain that they differed materially in the number and 

 variety of habits of manipulation at their command. Certainly Group A pos- 

 sessed a much greater range and complexity of implicit habits than Group B, 

 while the reverse was probably true of habits of the type involved in archery. 



